Hardening apparatus for metal work



9 H. ROSENBERG HARDENING APPARATUS FOR METAL WORK Filed Sept. 24. 1929 FI B. 'J

Zlwvwntom HEYMAN RUSENBERL hi5 datum I Patented Aug. 30, 1932 nnyiunivnosnnnnne, new. YonK, 1v. Ya

.nnnnnivmc krrknnmusfron METAL won a Application filed September 2 4, 1929 ,Serial, no. 3 4,830.

This invention, relates to improvements in apparatus for en masse treatment of work,

and more particularly work assuming-the form of relatively small articles, and has as its 7 primary object the efieotive en masse treat I ment of such Work to that, degree ofuniform ity assuring substantial identity j or; standardization in the condition of each individual article of work treated. i

In the treatment en masse of small articles of work, such as screws, nuts, bolts, buckles, Washers, tools, and the like, difficulty has been experienced in preventing variation in results between individual articles of work, and even variations between diiferent parts of an; indi vidual article, owing to the'lack of required promptness, uniformity, and completeness of approach and contact of impinging treatlng fluid. A prominent example of this difliculty 2c is found in the case of efforts which have thus far been unsuccessful in the barrel chromiumplating of small articles; and another instance is the en masse treatment of such small articles in case-hardening the same where a substantial group or mass of'such articles can not be sufliciently elfectivelypen'etrated and acted upon by the carbonizing solution toprevent the inner articles of the mass from; possessing less degree of hardness than theouter as articles of the mass, and variations have occurred in the degree of hardness of difi'erent parts of a single article according to'its :location in the mass. An essential object of the present invention is the en masse treatment in relatively-r large quantities of such articles by apparatus insuring the required access to all such articles as will afi'ord satisfactory uniformity of treatment.

A more detailed object is the increasing of 40 the speed with which the temperature of the articles of work is raised with the increasing of the temperature of the molten, hardening salts in which work is immersed;

In greater detail, a further object is the maintenance of the work so spread and located as to afford easier," quicker,andl more effective accessibility both of the molten salts and of the heat. 7 l p With these and further objects in view as will inpart hereinafter be stated andin part become apparent, the inventioncomprises us for carrying work to and from a-molten salts bath while maintaining the same conditioned to afford maximum accessibility and consequent unlformity of heat and salts treatment.

-The invention comprises also certain other novel constructions, combinations, and ar rangements of parts as will be subsequently specified and hereinafter particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1-is a top plan view of an apparatus emb of space.

odying the features of the present invention, par-ts being broken away. for the saving c -.-Figure 2is a'ver tical section taken on the plane indicated byline 2-2 of being seen in elevation;

.To obviate necessity. for

Figure 1, parts illustration of structuralparts with which the presentinven t1on 1s well adapted to cooperate, but which not necessarily depended upon in their specificform, reference is had to my two copending patent applications, one patented ember 30,1930, No. 1,786,508, and. the

other Serial -No.'380,350, filed July 23, 1929,

asi

llustrating case-hardening plants incorporating details of apparatus with which the present invention is well adapted to c0- 33 operate. Of course; the present invention is also well adapted for use with other known apparatus, or any other apparatus provided with'means for maintaining'the vat of molten be quenched.

salts and means for :Referring to the drawing by numerals, 1 indicates a rock shaft to which is fixed a crankarm 2 which is preferablyin the form of a flat plate fixed by ears 3 to the shaft 1 after the manner disclosed in my said copending applications. The crankarm or plate 2 is proportioned to extend across'a portion of a furnace 4 from which furnace portion depends a molten-salts vat 5 into the heated'areas of the furnace. The parts Land 5 are of Well known construction and commonly employed in cyanide or other salts case-hardening.

arried by the crank arm 2 is a'work holder receiving work to adapted to enable the work to be submerged in the molten mass in vat 8 and to be withdrawn therefrom incident to swinging movements of the arm 2 due to oscillation of shaft 1. The manner of anchorage and the detailed shape of such work holder are, of course, capable of a wide range of variations. The preferred form of such Work holder involves the idea of distributing the work in a manner to expose all parts of it substantially simultaneously and uniformly vious proposed constructions, such as. seen in my said co-pending patent applications wherein a single basket receives the entire batch or load of-work in a substantially compact mass or group located substantially centrally of the molten salts and affording access only as gradually penetrated from the exterior surfaces of such mass to the necessarily somewhat remote interior areas thereof :Toavoid the :delay and the natural dif-' ferential treatment incident to the progress of action from, the eXterior'to the center of comparatively large masses of work, the present invention provides for such segregation of the work particles as to reduce the need for-penetration to the minimum, and to thus cause each article of work to receive its full action substantially simultaneously with all othen articles. -To thisend, a group of reticulated work-carryingbaskets 6, 6 is'provided and preferably arranged to encircle the central portion of the molten mass within vat 5 when the work carriers 6 are located therein. In other words, the work carriers 6 are located as nearly as may be at substantially the outer portions of the vat 5, and so arranged that the central portion thereof is unoccupied. The mode of anchorage to the arm 2 and the shape and formoflthearm are all capable'of numerous variations well within the intent and purpose of the invention.

A preferred embodiment comprehends an arm2 formed of a plate perforated'toreceive the several baskets 6, and in such instance the open, upper end of each basket has its margin bordered by an appropriate outstanding annular bead 7 proportioned with respect to the aperture in plate 2 for the respective basket 6 such that the upper end portion or open end portion of the basket 6 snugly fits said aperture and the bead 7 overhangs the upper surface of plate 2. To prevent the baskets from falling out of the apertures in plate 2, when the baskets are inverted, detachable retaining tabs or butbolts or'other anchorage devices!) are, of

" course, detachably connected to plate 2 to enable release of the buttons 8 from engagement with the baskets 6 to facilitate bodily removal and replacement of the baskets as required'for repair or renewal.

The crank arm or plate 2 is preferably apertured centrally,as indicated at 10, to receive thethermocouple or other appropriate appa- ,ratus for indicating the temperature of the substance within vat 5. Other apertures 11, 11 may also be formed in;plate-2 above vat 5 for, escape of vapors, any one-of which may receive the thermocouple'ifdesired, but it is preferable to locate the thermocouple through the aperture 10 to insure that all parts of the molten mass havereached that temperature indicated by the condition of the thermocouple when the temperature-is being. raised to the required point for the treatment of the. work. V i 1 l r ,The operation will normally'correspond substantially to that set forth in my aboveidentified. co-pending applications except thatsubstantially larger quan'tities of articles 1 may be treated atone time, or, in other words, the vat 5 may be as much larger than the corresponding vats of the said co-pen'ding applications' as the 1 multiple of baskets employed. Thus, each basket 6 may be substantially the size of the single basket shown in said co-opending applications, and at the same timezeach batch of articles introduced into each basket 6 will be sufliciently relatively small and thin to affordthe requisiteaccess of treating liquid to insure uniformity of results. In other words, the single basket shown i-n'ea-c'h'of-my-twoabove-identified copending applications is proportioned for satisfactory :results, but any substantial enlargement ofthe basket shown in said copending applications increasing the thickness of the mass bfarticles to the point of objectionably tending toward ineffective treatment-of inner areasof the mass of articles would be unacceptable as failing tofigive the results required. It follows, therefore,

that by the present inven-tion and the grouping of the baskets about an open area substantially increased quantitiesmay be treated simultaneously and successfully while adhering to the en masse method'oftreatment. In this-connection, it is important to note that the thinness of the batches of work and the resulting short distance to the centers thereof enables quick and uniform penetration. This result nay obviously be obtained by providing a'thin batcho'r'thin'batches of work in any of numerous ways. Of course, it should be understood that the work being treated is of small articles, such as screws, nails, rivets, or like articles, but, of course, the apparatus is well adapted for treating larger articles when the parts are proportionally enlarged, but, in such instance, the relative action will be the same incidentto the same relative location, form, and function of parts.

It should be understood that while the present improved apparatus is well adapted for treating articles of work of various sizes, it is especially designed and intended forcasehardening relatively small articles by'which is meant any articles of a size lending themselves to group treatment. Also, while the apparatus set forth is adapted for a wide range of modification in proportions and contour, the preferred manner of use is that set forth in greater detail as an art or method in my co-pending application executed even date herewith and also filed even date herewith to which reference is had for a disclosure of a complete, organized structure in a which the present apparatus is incorporated as a factor.

Matters of process disclosed herein are not made the subject of claim because fully claimed in my co-pending application filed September 24, 1929, Serial No. 394,832.

Mechanical subject matter generically in common between the disclosure of'this application and the showing of my co-pending application Serial No. 525,573, filed March 26, 1931, is claimed broadly in said co-pending application.

What is claimed is 1. The combination, with a molten salts vat and a work carrier movable relative thereto, of a group of work-receiving baskets sustained by said work carrier in position for being moved thereby into and out of said vat, said group of basketsbeing sustained as a unit.

2. The combination, with a molten salts vat and a work carrier movable relative thereto, of a plurality of work-receiving baskets I sustained by said work-carrier in position for being moved thereby into and out of said vat, said baskets being spaced to substantially encircle central areas within the vat when the baskets are located in the vat.

3. The combination, with a molten salts vat and a work-carrier movable relative thereto, of a plurality of Work-receiving baskets sustained by said work-carrier in position for being moved thereby into and out of said vat, said baskets being spaced to substantially encircle central areas within the vat when the baskets are located in the vat, and means for detachably connecting the baskets to the work-carrier. V

In testimony whereof I alfix my signature.

HEYMAN ROSENBERG. 

